radiangames Crossfire (XBLIG, 2010)

radiangames Crossfire
Developed by Radiangames
Released for XBLIG (7/2010)

radiangames Crossfire is the developers' second release for XBLIG. Crossfire is an refreshing take on the coin-op arcade classic Space Invaders. It plays quite similar, with your ship locked and only able to move side to side while trying to clear out the enemies. The twist with Crossfire is that you are able to warp at any point, which will send your ship upside down on the top of the screen. It's an interesting mechanic and the game is built around it competently. Once you get the hang of it, it's good fun warping out of the bullet barrages you'll encounter while destroying the enemies. The graphic style is simple but works well for this style of game and reminds me of the kind of stuff you'd see on vector monitors back in the day. As you destroy the enemies they will drop ammo for your superweapon. Occasionally you'll find power capsules that boost your firepower or boost your speed. The infamous UFO that flew across the top of the screen in Space Invaders is here too, and when destroyed will drop either a slowdown or super-ammo power up. The enemy designs are unique and varied, some requiring a bit of strategy to defeat. There's around fifty stages to clear and the game never overstays its welcome. Two-player local is available as well. Retro gaming fanatics and Space Invaders fans should check this one out. radiangames Crossfire would later see an update titled Super Crossfire released for PC and Macintosh in 2011. It was also released as Super Crossfighter on iOS devices in 2014.

Final Verdict: radiangames Crossfire is a great update to the classic Space Invaders formula. Simple, original and a blast to play.

Related Links:
radiangames Crossfire - GameFAQs
radiangames - Official Site

Garden Gnome Carnage (XBLIG, 2010)

Garden Gnome Carnage
Developed by Ludosity Interactive
Released for XBLIG (11/2010)
Also on PC, Android & iOS

Garden Gnome Carnage is an arcade-style game with some pretty decent pixel artwork. You don't directly control the gnome in game, rather you control a building on wheels that the gnome is attached to via a rope on the top. I'm not sure exactly how one comes up with this stuff, but you have to give it points for being unique. You slide the building from side to side, guiding the gnome to smash into targets that are attempting to scale your building. If anybody makes it to the top, it's game over. The player is granted with three carpet bomb attacks that will clear out the screen if you're about to lose. You also have the ability to grab bricks as you fly past your building and can chunk them at your enemies causing an explosion. Amidst the mobs of people trying to climb up your building, there is a friendly cat that if you can manage to avoid knocking it off before it reaches the top will grant you a brick refill the first time and will initiate a quick mini-game if you manage it a second time. The mini-game is a simple side scroller which, if completed, will refill the players brick stock. Score multipliers can be gained for knocking multiple objects into each other, for instance knocking a bunch of helicopters into each other will rack up some big points. The game keeps tabs on your local high scores but due to issues with XBLIG the online leaderboards are a bit janky.

Overall, Garden Gnome Carnage was well worth the buck I spent for it and has served up some great quick game sessions over the years. If the other versions of the game have full functioning leaderboards, which I would think they will, I'd probably opt for getting it another platform of your choice, but it is fun to be able to play this right off your 360 as well. A second version of the game would see a release in December 2010, titled GGC X, which is basically the same game with the enemies changed to a Christmas theme rather than the military you're up against in the original.

Final Verdict: Garden Gnome Carnage is a fun, simple arcade style game that's easy to play and tough to master. Definitely worth the dollar asking price.

Related Links:
Garden Gnome Carnage - GameFAQs

Escape Goat (XBLIG, 2011)

Escape Goat
Developed by MagicalTimeBean
Released for XBLIG (11/2011)
Also on Linux/Mac/PC

Escape Goat is a 2D puzzle/platformer where you play as a goat. You must navigate platforms, manipulate switches, utilize fellow animal helper buddies, find keys and eventually work your way through an exit. You have a double-jump and the controls are tight enough that the platforming never becomes frustrating. The pixel-art is very well done, with a very authentic 8-bit feel to it. You have an over-world stage where you can choose which set of levels you'd like to tackle next, each represented by a door. There are nine doors to choose from and each one features five levels. Once you've completed all of those you'll go up against the final nine challenges for a total of 54 stages. This game originally retailed for a dollar on XBLIG, making Escape Goat quite the value for a buck! The game will offer up several hours of enjoyment to those who enjoy a nice puzzle/platform challenge, plus after you finish the main game the developers have included a level editor allowing you to create your own levels (local only). A sequel would come out for PS4, PC Linux and Mac in 2014, but the original must not have sold enough to convince them to publish the sequel for Xbox One. Microsoft should have promoted the original game into the Xbox Live Arcade back in 2011 to get it onto the screens of more gamers and it would have been possible to implement the option to share user made levels! As it is, Escape Goat stands tall among the best releases on the XBLIG platform.

Final Verdict: Escape Goat is a wonderfully crafted 2D puzzle/platformer that gamers should not sleep on!

Related Links:
Escape Goat - GameFAQs 
Escape Goat - MagicalTimeBean Official Site

radiangames Inferno (XBLIG, 2010)

radiangames Inferno
Developed by Radian Games
Released for XBLIG (9/2010)
Also on Ouya

radiangames Inferno is a twin-stick shooter where you are given maze-style levels you are allowed to explore as opposed to the common fixed screens of most other games in the genre. The best way to describe Inferno is a tribute to the arcade classic Gauntlet with twin-stick shooter controls. The maze-like levels will have areas locked off unless you've picked up a key to get through. Many of the levels reward the player for exploration with hidden areas to find. The graphics are a bit abstract, but the controls are so tight and the action so smooth it never bothered me that I was basically shooting at what look like bubbles and very strange looking ships. The threat level of each enemy can be easily assessed just by looking at their color. The explosions and particle effects when blowing your foes up are top notch. Defeated enemies will drop currency that can be used at shops to unlock upgrades for your ship or to buy power-ups. Every other level or so you'll gain an upgrade point that you can apply to the attribute of your choice. radiangames Inferno offers up thirty levels and once you've completed them the game offers a new game + mode where you can keep your unlocks and maximize your ships power. The game also supports up to four-players local. Highly recommended for fans of Gauntlet and/or twin-stick shooters!

Final Verdict: radiangames Inferno is a top-tier twin-stick shooter on XBLIG. It removes the quarter munching aspects of the arcade classic Gauntlet while maintaining the kind of action that made it so great!

Related Links:
radiangames Inferno - GameFAQs
radiangames Inferno - radiangames Official Site

Hurdle Turtle 2 (XBLIG, 2013)

Hurdle Turtle 2
Developed by Holmade Games
Released for XBLIG (10/2013)

Three years after Holmade Games released the original Hurdle Turtle and two level packs comes the sequel, which improves upon the original in many ways. First, they've added some nice digitized voice samples that add some extra personality to the game. The pixel count has been upped significantly and as a result the visuals look more appealing overall. Third and most important is that the gameplay has been refined a bit, now allowing you to switch between four tracks rather than freely moving up and down, making dodging the oncoming obstacles even simpler than before. The game now supports up to four players at a time (local of course). The levels are presented on an over-world map now and the game has added water levels. Hurdle Turtle 2 is an improvement over the original in just about every imaginable, though your enjoyment boils down to whether or not you like the concept of a game that plays like the infamous Turbo Tunnel segments from Battletoads.

Final Verdict: Holmade Games did excellent at keeping what was good about the first game and building on it with Hurdle Turtle 2. Recommended for fans of the original or if you just like dodge 'em up games!

Related Links:
Hurdle Turtle - Xbox Overview
Hurdle Turtle 2 - GameFAQs 
Hurdle Turtle 2 Official Announcement - Holmade Games Blog

Infinite Doodle (XBLIG, 2013)

Infinite Doodle
Developed by Smudged Cat Games
Released for XBLIG (2/2013)

Infinite Doodle is, as the title would suggest, a program that lets you doodle all over your screen. You have a generous amount of colors to select from and many of the features you'd expect from a program of this variety to have, such as the ability to draw lines, boxes, circles and the option to add text or stamps. Where Infinite Doodle varies from most other "Paint" style apps is the ability to zoom in and out at will, apparently to infinity or until the program crashes. It's definitely unique, and while I wasn't able to create anything that really looked even decent I had a fun time zooming in and out while doodling all over the place. The frame-rate does skip around a bit while the 360 processes the zooming at times, but for the most part it's a very visually appealing effect (though may be bad for those with motion sickness). Infinite Doodle retailed for only a buck and was good fun if you're in the mood to draw on your screen. I could imagine somebody with some art skills could probably make some pretty amazing stuff with this program!

Final Verdict: Infinite Doodle is more of a program or app then a game, but it can be fun to mess around doodling while zooming in and out on your art. The more intoxicated you are, the more enjoyable this one becomes.

Related Links:
Infinite Doodle - GameFAQs
Smudged Cat Games - Official Site

Ikaroids (XBLIG, 2009)

Ikaroids
Developed by John Wordsworth
Released for XBLIG (12/2009)

Ikaroids is a twin-stick shooter inspired by Atari's classic Asteroids, this one exclusive to the XBLIG platform. This one has a bunch of enemy ships firing at you in addition to the giant rocks floating about. One thing I noticed immediately is that this game has no problem spawning enemies right on top of you. They pretty much appear out of thin air, with only a quick "phasing-in" animation to indicate they're going to pop up. You'll need to be very quick on your toes to stay alive. The graphics are high-res sprites with some good detail. There is a campaign mode (complete with boss battles) for one or two players (local) and also a survival mode. The game doesn't keep seem to keep tabs on your high scores, which is a bummer in these kind of games (at least have a local leaderboard). Overall, Ikaroids is an above-average twin-stick shooter but is a bit overshadowed by some of the other Asteroids-inspired games on XBLIG.

Final Verdict: If you're an Asteroids nut, I'd recommend Echoes+ or Space Crüesader first, but if you still need more space rock blasting action Ikaroids will do.

Related Links:
Asteroids & Deluxe - Xbox Overview
Space Crüesader - Xbox Overview
Echoes+ - Xbox Overview
Ikaroids - GameFAQs

マイケルの不思議な冒険 (XBLIG, 2011)

マイケルの不思議な冒険
Developed by Hunters
Released for XBLIG (12/2011)

マイケルの不思議な冒険, which on the title card has the English subtitle Mysterious Adventure of Michael (so from here on out we'll refer to the game as that) is a Japanese-developed release for XBLIG. The game is an obvious Super Mario Bros rip-off and I found myself surprised to see that the first stage was actually kind of playable (though of course nowhere near as good as Mario). Similar to the Mario games it wants to imitate, the game has the coin blocks you can jump into, bricks you can smash and turtles you can send flying across the screen by jumping on top of them.

You play as Michael, a bear who is apparently asleep and dreaming all of this. My initial surprise of the quality of the game came to an abrupt halt once I made it to the second stage. Right at the beginning of the level you're required to jump across a large pit using a block that launches you higher than your normal jump would (these are comparable to the music notes in Super Mario Bros 3). The problem is that the blocks don't automatically launch you when you jump on them. As far as I can tell, you have to press up at the same time you land on the brick. Regardless, after several attempts to get across this gap I had to give up on the game in frustration. Mysterious Adventure of Michael is indeed a mysterious title & had the difficulty not ramped up so quick I may have been more obliged to see some more of what it had to offer, though something deep down inside tells me I'm not missing much.

Final Verdict: Mysterious Adventure of Michael is a poor-man's Super Mario Bros, so if you enjoy inferior knock-offs of more popular games you might get something out of this one.